The Doctor's Mistake
by TheRumour
Summary: Sort of Doctor/Loki but more like brotp than otp. The Doctor finds Loki in trouble as a kid and then has to leave and while he's gone Loki sort of loses it. Then he tries to fix it and yeah. Rated T maybe swearing but no sexy time I don't think
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor straightened his bow tie, pulled several levers on the console and was on his way.

"C'mon Sexy, take me someplace… exciting."

The TARDIS landed with a rather alarming sequence of bangs and a noise sort of like a bald man being slapped on the head. The Doctor raced to the door and flung it open, curious to know what lay ahead.

"Well this is brilliant, isn't it?" Surprisingly enough as he stepped outside he could hear some sort of wet, sniffily sound coming from ahead. As he moved closer he could make out what seemed to be a rather small human child.

"Well, hello." He said with a smile, looking into a pair of blue eyes so enormous they stood out in stark contrast to the think pale face they inhabited.

"Oh, um, hello. I don't mean to be rude, but who exactly are you and why are you here?" Asked the small boy, seeming surprisingly unafraid of the strange man that was looming above him with a ridiculous grin plastered on his face.

"Oh, right. I'm the Doctor. Pleased to meet you, hello, greetings or however you say it here. Also, would you be much obliged to tell me where exactly is here..?" the Doctor trailed off, pointing the Sonic Screwdriver at the walls and sort of just generally brandishing it about.

"Sir, I don't mean to be offensive but you must be affected! We're in Asgard. How is it that you don't know this?"

The Doctor stared down at the little boy, surprised to find his eyes were quite red rimmed and his face seems sort of red and blotchy. Crying, it would seem.

The Doctor leant right down to the child and examined his face closely. "What is your name? And what exactly are you doing down in this cold dark corridor all by yourself?"

"Oh, I'm Loki" he began with a half-hearted attempt at a smile, "I – I came down here to get away from Thor actually. He's well, he's my brother but we got into a fight and he told me I was an adopted Jotun! I'm not! I was upset and I broke his favourite mjolnir toy and then he never comes down here so I ran away. Do you think me a coward?" the boy – Loki – hung his head and scuffed his little boot on the ground, with a rather sheepish expression.

The Doctor didn't quite know what to think, honestly he hadn't heard of Jotun's being around for centuries. Frost Giants as he actually remembered them. And Thor? Was Loki talking about the Norse God Thor? Surely the Doctor hadn't arrived in his childhood. In his experience that often meant bad things were brewing.

"A coward? Never! Often brothers need a bit of loss to ground themselves, even if they don't realise it until later" The Doctor kissed the air on both sides of Loki's face, grabbing his shoulders and then confidently striding forward to find out why he was even here.

"Sir! Doctor!" Loki chased after him in considerably shorter legs, "you are mad! I like it! Everybody thinks I'm mad too."

"A little bit of madness is always a good thing!" The Doctor called behind him, stopping to sonic the wall to his left. _Hmm_, he was thinking, _not exactly the results I was expecting_. Strange. The results he was getting were technically, well, nothing. Apparently nothing at all was happening here.

"My dear Loki, if I didn't know any better it would seem that nothing odd is going on here. But I do know better and we had better get cracking before something awful happens." The Doctor took off at a ridiculously fast stride and Loki was again struggling to keep up.

"Doctor. What exactly do you mean? What's wrong? What are you doing?" The doctor has skidded to a halt outside Loki's room, and was staring at the door incredulously while waving that odd wand instrument about. It emitted a high pitched noise and a green line of light.

"I need your help because, right now, there is something awful in your bedroom. Would you mind opening the door for me?" Loki did as he was asked and stepped aside. The Doctor warily entered the room, pointing his wand around with Loki following close behind.

"Can you hear that Loki?" Loki listened carefully, not really sure what he should be listening for.

"Doctor, do you mean the clock? It's always made that noise." Loki pointed over to the wall, where a large clocked fashioned like a sun sat.

"Yes but, why is there ticking if the clock isn't _moving_?" The Doctor slowly turned around to face the boy, "I don't mean to alarm you at all, but maybe you should RUN!" The Doctor yelled, grabbing Loki's hand and pulling him down the corridor so fast his feet barely had time to touch the floor. The Doctor pulled to a sudden halt as they rounded the corner, putting his mouth right up to Loki's ear.

"That, my friend, is a Clockwork Man. Haven't seen one since, well, I wasn't myself. I thought I had got rid of them all but it would seem that one escaped. Bit not good, really. Well, really not good I suppose." The Doctor let out a puff of excited breath and listened closely for the Clockwork man's footsteps and the characteristic ticking.

"Loki, I need you to do something very brave for me. Do you think you can do that?" Loki nodded and the Doctor grabbed his shoulders. "I need you to go out there and draw the clockwork man over here. I promise you, I will not let him lay a finger on you. You will not be harmed." Loki nodded again, drew a deep breath and stepped out from behind the wall.

"Hey, assbutt!" he yelled, shaking a tiny fist at the imposing man of cogs and gears. With speed the Doctor didn't even know they possessed, the clockwork man made a vicious swipe at the boy and the Doctor panicked, getting the clockwork man right in the face with his Sonic Screwdriver. The Doctor immediately disregarded the now disintegrating clockwork man, grabbing the small, limp Loki by his shoulders.

"No!" The Doctor was on his way to working up a full scale freak out when the little boy's body gave him a small grin and simply vanished.

"Wha-?" The Doctor whipped his head around at the sound of a quiet, heart-warming giggle.

"I'm over here Doctor!" the boy was grinning so much the Doctor thought his face might crack in two.

The Doctor almost fainted in relief. "Loki, you scared me half to death thinking you were dead!"

The boy smiled and moved closer, "You're not the only one with special abilities around here Doctor."

The Doctor wasn't sure if he should be laugh or cry. He did an odd mixture of both and pulled the boy into a hug. "And I say, please never do that again in front of me! You were so brave my friend. Well done!"

_Friend._ That was what Loki heard. He had a _friend_. Not someone who thought him mad, but someone who thought he was special. Special enough to call a friend.

"Well, Loki, I - Aargh!" A large bang had alerted him to the fact that the TARDIS was, in fact, smoking slightly and giving off a pungent odour.

"Eeh! I am so sorry but I need to go back in there quickly. I'll be back in five minutes. You wait here!" And with that the Doctor whipped around the corner, jumped into an odd blue box and disappeared.

Loki sat down in the spot where the box containing his only true friend had disappeared, curiosity and excitement making it difficult to sit still. A friend! Finally, someone didn't think he was mad. Or adopted. He sat his face in his hands and began to count down until the Doctor said he would be back.


	2. Chapter 2

"Come along, Ponds – Oh." This was the eighth time the Doctor had said this and then realised his friends weren't coming this time. In fact, there weren't going to accompany him ever again. Swallowing the odd shaped thing in his throat, he made his way into wherever exactly he was.

"Oh, this is unexpected." Since the… loss of Amy and Rory the Doctor had mostly taken to voicing his thoughts aloud, it wasn't like they had fully listened anyway. For once, the Doctor actually knew where he was. Hopefully Loki hadn't been waiting too long. The Doctor had become slightly side tracked (try a few years side tracked) but he had come back within at least twenty minutes. From where he had parked the TARDIS he could hear a myriad of screaming and general cheering.

"Well, this sounds exciting. Not clockwork man exciting but still, rather gripping!" Again, voicing his thoughts out loud he strolled down the stone hallway into a large chamber type thing. There seemed to be a crowd gathered below a throne. Upon no one at all, but next to it kneeled a behemoth of a man with long blonde hair a red cape. Slightly further down the podium was a man of about twenty dressed in dark green with – the Doctor had to admit – admirable bone structure and sleek black hair.

By his count about twenty minutes had passed since he had left young Loki and for that he was sorry. Ha had technically said five. He watched over the crowd as it dispersed, with the old man and the behemoth disappearing into a door behind the throne and the man in green began to stride toward the Doctor. He was staring directly down at the floor and, naturally, did not see as the Doctor hailed him and grabbed his arm.

The man looked up with a snarl that soon turned almost wounded when he saw the Doctor. His eyes took on a curiously glazed watery look and he staggered sideways into the wall, the skin around his mouth turning a rather curious white colour.

"You okay there friend? I'm just looking for a boy, about nine medium length black hair?" The Doctor was smiling rather oddly at the man, mostly because he looked like he might pass out or even punch the Doctor at any given moment. The Doctor released his arm and stepped back, but was grabbed by the green man and dragged through a door into what seemed to be a bedroom.

"Yes, um, okay. Anyway yes a boy of about nine, blue eyes?" the Doctor was trying to act normal whilst simultaneously wondering if this man was quite sane.

"You," The man looked like he was choking, "Why did you – why did you say five minutes" he whispered, sinking to the ground, his face scrunched up in pain and tears in his eyes.

"Loki? No, it was – I was only gone twenty minutes!" _Oh no, I am an old man and a fool_, the Doctor was thinking.

"Why did you say five MINUTES!" The man was up and shouting, his face contorted with rage. "I WAITED FOR YOU AND YOU LEFT ME!"

The Doctor stayed quite for a moment and turned his head in shame.

"I am and old man and a fool, Loki. And for that I am sorry. How long did you wait?"

"Twelve – twelve years I waited for you, you TRAITOR!" Loki was back to yelling, and the Doctor was shocked to the core. This was not the same curious, bright young child he had met with so long ago. This man was a mess.

"Leave me. I never want to see you STUPID FACE AGAIN!" Ouch, another painful reminder of his past. Of Amy and Rory and all the things he could have done to save them. The Doctor looked solemnly into Loki's eyes and backed out of the room, heading back to the TARDIS, no spring in his step or sense of excitement. He felt broken. Old.

He stopped in the hallway, resting his face against the wall, feeling mostly pain and regret. He could hear something through the wall. There it was, that wet sniffily sound again. Loki was crying. The Doctor tried so hard to walk away, to get in his TARDIS and leave like he was told. It would have been a good idea but, hell, when was he ever one for good ideas?

He walked right back into Loki's room and found him sitting spread legged on a large chair by the window.

"I apologise, friend, many a thing has happened since you last were here. Life has not been easy here in Asgard for us all." Loki was begging to be talked to, the poor man looked just as broken as the Doctor.

"I am so sorry and I know that is nowhere near enough apology but it is all I can offer. How are you? Are you alright?" The Doctor knew it sounded pathetic even as it left his lips.

"I am Loki, God of Mischief. I am always _alright_." He had a bad attempt at a sneer on his face.

"Is 'alright' special Demi God code for 'really not alright at all'?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm alright, too." The Doctor could barely lift his eyes to Loki's at this point and when the behemoth blonde from before barged into the room he was glad.

"Brother, quickly, he has entered the Odinsleep. I will go to Jotunheim, they will pay for what they have done. I need you to stay here, be in charge for me Brother. I need you." Loki arose at once, passing the Doctor as if he did not exist.

"Let me come with you, Thor, please." The blonde, Thor, shook his head and they exited the room, leaving to the Doctor alone. He assumed he could do what he pleased.

The Doctor didn't see Loki or Thor for the next three days. He stayed because he felt like there was a chance, even if it was miniscule, that he could fix what he had done with Loki.

The Doctor found an empty room and some sort of serving woman allowed him to occupy it. He couldn't just leave, not after last time. And he really had so little time left. He had lost the Ponds, but he would not lose Loki, no matter what. And he had to do it soon.

He had procured a mirror from somewhere and held it carefully in his hand, hesitant to see the damage. Not too long ago he had been surprised by a Silurian and bitten. He only had a week, two tops. He hadn't wanted to tell Amy and Rory, he had planned on leaving them to a peaceful life and finding somewhere to die on his own. He couldn't regenerate again; a Timelord can only live so long.

He held the mirror near his hip and lifted up his shirt. It was spreading, leaving a sick black trail in his veins. Two hearts wouldn't save him from this one, although they would prolong his life. Only one person knew, an old friend. Captain Jack Harkness. It hadn't gone down well when Jack had found it.

"It's killing you, isn't it?" Jack had said in that American accent, a horrified look on his face.

"Maybe it's better this way. Maybe you should stop trying to save me and let me go. I'll have to leave you one day."

"Don't you dare, Doctor. You're not alone in this. You can't push me away so stop trying and let me in. I only want to help you." The Doctor felt awful about it, but he had left silently in the middle of the night while Jack was with Ianto. They didn't have to see this.

The Doctor was pulled out of his memory when he heard the unmistakeable sounds of a fight in the throne room.

Loki.


	3. Chapter 3

The yelling was almost painful to ones ears. The Doctor tore through the hall and right into the middle of a soon to be brawl.

"We fought together, brother! Played together. Do you remember that?" The Mighty Thor was standing in front of Loki, shoulders slumped and mysteriously sans Mjolnir, his giant mystical hammer. The Doctor had never actually met a God, and so far they seemed rather fascinating, but mostly dangerous at this moment.

"I remember being in your shadow!" Loki hissed, sprawled out upon the throne.  
"You are a fool, _brother_. Why do we even use the word now? Father has died and all you did was wage war on the Jotuns." He was screaming now, completely immersed in his rage.  
"And I am told what? I'm the monster that parents tell their children about at night? It all makes so much sense now. Why he favoured you all these years! Because no matter how much he claimed to love me, he could never have a Frost Giant sitting on your throne of Asgard! And Father has thrown you out and taken your powers, so what's the use of you now brother?" The Doctor's head was spinning and he pushed his way up to where Thor stood. Thor raised his head and the Doctor could practically read the threat that was about to roll out of his stupid Norse face.

"Move you gargantuan fool, before you say something completely thick. Let me talk to him." The Doctor felt queasy.

"Loki, please, this is madness!"

"Is it madness? Is it? What happened to you that turned you away from thinking a bit of madness is good? What turned you so soft? Don't tell me it was those Pond's, down on Earth. Yes, I know of them. If they weren't already gone I might go and pay them a visit myself!" He was shrieking, a noise so absolutely heinous that the Doctor staggers back as though the words were physical daggers splintering his chest, his hearts.

The Doctor chokes, but he can't give up. He only has so long and he refuses to let Loki stay like this. Before he can even speak another word to Loki, the man storms out of the room, pushing the Doctor on his way out. The Doctor follows him; he knows where he's going. Back to when he was a child, where he hid from Thor all those years ago.

The Doctor finds him shaking in the dim hall and slides down the wall next to him.

"I am worthless, I don't belong here and I don't belong with the Jotuns. I have no purpose. I – I wish Father would give Thor back his stupid power so I could go back to being nothing.

"Loki, please listen to me. The way I see it every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things. But, vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant"

Loki stared up at him, "You are too wise for a man of your age, sir. But, alas, I cannot find it in my cold, hard heart to believe you. I'm a Frost Giant." He spat the words like they were poison, like they burned his silver tongue. "I fear my time has come to an end, I don't want to rule, I just – I just want to be listened to. Is that so much to ask? Whether it be a world, a relationship or a life, everything has it's time. And everything ends."

"Not today, Loki. Today, everybody lives, even you. I want you to know this; I have never met a person of whom I thought had no purpose. And I know you might think what's the point in being happy now if you are only going to be sad later. But, the answer is, of course, because you are going to be sad later." Loki said nothing, simply dropping his head to rest in his hands like he did so long ago as a child.

"I don't want Thor to go." Loki felt incredibly weak, telling the Doctor this. Yet for some reason he trusted this strange mad man with a box. "Nor you. You'll stay won't you?" Loki was pleading and the Doctor felt as though he was staring into the face of the child he saved from the clockwork men all that time ago.

"I'll stay." To the Doctor this felt like a massive lie. Because, really, how long could he stay for? Four more days? And he knew, he really truly knew that Loki needed him longer than that. And with that each of the broken men returned to their rooms, wary of the comings of the next sunrise.

There comes a time in a man's life when he must make a life changing decision. For the Doctor, this time had come a multitude of times and he had somehow, by the skin of his teeth, managed to figure out how to fix it. But who would fix Loki when he was gone? All those other times he had saved people, he knew he had a regeneration left, another chance at life. Except for now, the one time when he was needed.

"Just this one time, please, I have never prayed for anything. And I have never needed anything like I do now. I need your help. Please, don't make him do this alone. I've laughed fate in the face, but this one time I cannot do this, Loki cannot do this. I need your help, Castiel."


	4. Chapter 4

"Cas! C'mon man, we've talked about personal space" Dean was standing in the bathroom and thank God, he was only brushing his teeth. It could have gotten super awkward,

"I.. Sorry Dean, I thought I heard something." And with nothing more than a small rushing sound the Angel was gone.

"Sam, honestly, is that Goddamn Angel ever going to respond to things normally."

"Beats me Dean, the guy's a weirdo. I mean a really helpful weirdo but still a weirdo." Dean just continued brushing his teeth.

"Alright Sammy, let's get back to the case. What even was the damn son of a bitch again?" They'd been on the road for a week, with no signs of anything even remotely demonic or supernatural related. It probably should have been relaxing, but they knew better than to think that. Dean turned around and walked straight into Castiel, who was accompanied by a strange man who looked sort of like one of those Easter Island statues and another who looked like he was trying to get into some weird kinky role play.

"Cas, what even…?" Dean trailed off, wishing that for once Cas could bring them hot chicks to protect or something.

"Sorry Dean, I just need you to help these guys adjust to er, 'normal' living. Perhaps purchase them some clothes and other such things." Dean blinked and Castiel was gone again.

"Angel out." He muttered sarcastically. He turned around to survey the newcomers and was immediately accosted by the funny looking one with a bow tie. The strange man was sort of… kneading Dean's face.

"Uh, hey, creepy touchy feeling guy? Could you maybe not with my face, please?"

"Oh, right, yes well. I'm the Doctor and this here is Loki. We're just, ah, visiting for a bit um, yes. Visiting. Um, where and when are we exactly?" Dean could only stare goggle eyed before he turned to Sam, who simply shrugged and went back to his laptop.

"Uh, okay. It's uh 2012 and we're in Dodge City, in America. Land of the free." The stranger, Doctor, simply scoffed and began examining the room, pointing some sort of weird probe around and checking it every now and again. Dean turned to this 'Loki' guy.

"So, uh, care to explain anything?" The Loki feller sort of turned towards Dean and gave him an odd look.

"I am Loki, God of mischief and that man is the Doctor, a Timelord I suppose you might call it. We sort of came here with Castiel because well, I'm actually not entirely sure really." Dean had to fight a massive urge to roll his eyes. Right, a Timelord and a God. Fan freaking tastic. This was going to go so well. Clothes. That would probably help considering what they were wearing. Come on, a cape on the Loki dude and the other one had a bow tie and a fez, _honestly_. Where do you even get that sort of thing from?

"Sammy, c'mon we have to take these… guys to get some clothes and I am _not_ going alone."

They all managed to return safely in less than two hours, although it had taken a lot to get the Doctor into the Impala and Loki had called Dean's baby a 'demon metal contraption'. Dean thought that was possibly harsh. Baby was a beauty, _his_ beauty.

Shopping was excruciating. The Doctor had insisted he dressed fine and would only concede to remove the fez. Loki wanted to buy a legitimate three piece suit, along with a green tie. Dean had managed to get him into some black jeans, a deep green sweater and some converses. Honestly, the man was a complete diva.

Sam was actually mighty concerned about their 'house guests'. They looked like complete nutters. Also that Doctor dude had gone on and on about his Turdiff or something and when they had finally asked him about he showed them a blue telephone box outside their motel room. _A blue telephone box_, honestly. And that Loki dude? A God, really?

Without much ado, they had all managed to be pulled outside by the Doctor, who was raging on about his bloody telephone box. Dean was paying no attention and had moved on to cleaning the Impala. Sam was actually scrutinising Loki when it happened, but whipped around when he heard Dean scream like a girl. He was full set to make fun of him when he saw why.

Where Dean had been washing the Impala, now sat a very wet and rather naked young lady. Dean looked like he was going to choke, and the Doctor looked sort of… impressed.

"Dude, that's a naked chick!" Dean whispered, poking Sam in the ribs and grinning like a mad man.

"Dean, shut up. Don't you think you should be more concerned about why the Impala is gone and why this lady is here?" Dean sort of just shrugged. Animal.

Said lady was now standing up and stretching, with even Dean having the decency to look away. He couldn't look away for long before she grabbed him by the coat and sort of just crushed her mouth to his. And then slapped him in the face.

"That," she said "Is for the wash. And the slap was for carving you all's initials into my back you ass!" This lady sure was interesting, and Sam could clearly see his and Dean's initials on her lower back. Sam began to look a bit more closely at here, trying not to look like he was perving. She had pale skin and sort of purple/black long wavy hair. Still naked though.

Dean, not exactly sure what to do with himself, took off his jacket and led everyone inside. Sam saw Loki give an ominous smirk as he walked past him. He didn't have time to register this before Dean punched him really hard in the ribs and yelled triumphantly.

"SAMMY, she is a lady Impala!"


	5. Chapter 5

The man was doing a legit happy dance. It was disturbing, Sam was finding. Dean was now physically circling the, ah, Lady Impala while she stared directly at him. Luckily Dean had actually given her his coat so she wasn't completely naked anymore. Of all the strange things that had ever happened to them, this was the weirdest.

"Dean," he hissed, pulling him by the arm into the bathroom, "This seems bad. And weird."

"Boooooobs!" Sam rolled his eyes and punched Dean really hard in the ear. He received a glare for his troubles.

"Shut up man. Listen to me. How do we even know she's a lady Impala? Honestly, what do we even call her? What if she's a crazy chick demon or something, dude?" Dean frowned and peered around the corner of the door, looking at the Impala who was currently grabbing her face and mushing it around.

"I don't know, Sam. But I was there washing my baby and then she was gone and this chick just shows up in her place. I don't know whether to be scared or impressed."

"Dean, did you wish _really_ hard?"

"Shut up, Sam, I'm going to go talk to her okay?" Sam didn't even answer and Dean spun on his foot and walked back into the room.

"Ah, Lady? I – what do I even call you?" Lady Impala turned onto her stomach and rested her head in her hands, facing Dean.

"I think you call me… Baby. Yes, that's fine." Dean turned an alarming shade of red, and then sort of blue and he made an odd choking sound.

"Yeah, but, uh only when we're alone!" She rolled onto her back, staring up at him upside down.

"No, I like it. Baby it is. Gotta call a girl something. Also, what is _this_? And what does it do? I like it" She grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged it.

"Chuskfdhf.. Uh, it's hair. I don't- I don't. It sort of just sits there." Dean looked halfway to passing out, becoming more and more confused by… Baby. "Anyway, how are we supposed to know you aren't some whacked demon chick we're going to have to genk later?"

"I don't know Dean. Try some holy water, or something," she smirked at him, knowing full well what they would do because, hell, she had lived and travelled with them since she could remember.

Dean fell silent. Of all the weird ass things he had ever expected to happen in his life this was not one of them. A Lady Impala and he had to call her Baby of all things! At this point Loki jumped in.

"Ah, Sir Dean? I think it might be appropriate if we were to acquire some clothing for the lady. A jacket does not seem to be appropriate coverage on Midgard, correct?" Loki was looking at Dean sideways, a small grin on his face.

"Right, yeah clothes. Just ah, put her in a long shirt and the jacket and we'll drive and get something." There was no way he was going shopping for a chick.

"While that does seem like an intelligent plan, are we not currently without your kind of transport?" Dean's face dropped and he stomped over to the bed and flung himself across it face down.

"I don't know." He spoke directly into the covers.

"Um, ah, I do have a TARDIS, you know. It does actually move places." The Doctor was staring around at them all with a lopsided grin on his face. He led them all out to the TARDIS and gestured grandly, opening the door for the Lady Impala.

"After you, Madam."

"Oh, I like you!" She said, ruffling his hair and walking straight into the TARDIS. Loki went in next, and then Sam and Dean, who walked right back out again.

"That – It's – I – Bigger. On the _inside_!" Dean was stammering and Sam looked half way to fainting.

"Come on now! She's a beauty, surely men like yourselves can handle a bit of time continuum mechanics?" The brothers didn't even know what the Doctor had said but they warily reentered the TARDIS.

They made it back surprisingly fast considering Dean thought it would have taken hours. Really, they had gotten into a blue police box that was actually bigger on the inside. He hadn't expected it to move. Once they reached the shop Dean had stood awkwardly next to the women's section and tried to look inconspicuous. When Baby said she was good he sort of tried to do a fast duck walk out of the shop and not be seen by anyone. She was now in the bathroom getting dressed, which was fantastic because Dean just could not concentrate with a mostly naked lady around. Who honestly could?

She walked out of the bathroom and Dean sincerely wished he had checked what she was buying. She was wearing black Doc Martens, skinny jeans, a black corset top and a short black leather jacket. Could she not have purchased, like, jeans and a t shirt?

Sam was watching Dean very closely as Baby walked out of the bathroom. Dean had made a noise much like a verbal keysmash and Sam was trying really hard not to burst out laughing. He had resorted to making choking noises in the back corner of the room and staring at the wall. Of course this would happen to them. They would of course be dumped with a God and a Timelord, and Dean's car would be turned into a person. Oh and like usual, Cas would be gone.

"I don't mean to alarm anyone but I actually have to go on a quick trip. I'll be back as soon as possible." The Doctor was staring at his probe thing with an unreadable expression.

"Uh, okay. Bye then." Dean was being completely sarcastic but the Doctor had now moved and was whispering to Loki, who was nodding back and appeared to be saying goodbye.

The Doctor left and Loki turned to them.

"Looks like it's just us for now."


	6. Chapter 6

"John, I'm going to a case in Wales. Stay here and do whatever it is that you do while I'm gone usually." Sherlock turned around to find… no one. It appeared that John was gone and Sherlock hadn't noticed. Again.

Sherlock left the flat and got straight into a cab. He had taken his driving test once, but when he had actually corrected the instructor – rudely, several times in an annoying high pitched voice – he had been kicked out and told never to come back. That was when he was seventeen.

Now he was on his way to a spot just outside of Cardiff, Wales. His heart was thumping painfully and erratically against his ribs. He was about to meet the one man who actually made him feel… normal. That was a rather odd thing for Sherlock and in a sick sort of way he constantly craved it. He felt equal, perhaps actually less intelligent than this man.

The Doctor.

The first time he had met the Doctor he was ten and had run away from Mycroft into Sherwood Forest. In short the Doctor had saved him from the Vashtu Nerada and Sherlock had avoided forests ever since then. Sherlock hadn't even believed in aliens, had thought them impossible in fact. He had easily been proved wrong by this tall raggedy man in a blue suit and converses. He had been accompanied by a rather pretty woman named Rose who made Sherlock feel shy. He had never felt comfortable around girls. But she had been nice and made him feel like he belonged with them. When Sherlock had told them both that he thought aliens impossible, the Doctor looked disapprovingly down his glasses.

"Sherlock, once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." He had then turned his back on Sherlock, collected his lady companion and began to lope quickly and silently through the forest.

In an odd turn of events, this had become Sherlock's mantra. That was also what made him want to become a detective.

Sherlock now stood, leaning against a tree, in front of an empty field. He was waiting for the Doctor, he needed his help. He heard the unmistakable sound of the TARDIS and readied himself. He was ridiculously excited and determined not to show it.

Sherlock supressed an outright laugh when the Doctor fell right out of the TARDIS. For a Lord of Time, the man really was quite clumsy. Sherlock strode toward him and gave him a nod, wondering where his latest companion was. Last he knew he was travelling with a woman named Donna.

"Doctor, I see you've been in… America."

"Sherlock, honestly, I will never know how you do that. Over a hundred years of space and time travel and I can't even tell when someone's crying right in front of me."

"Actually, you're wearing a Dodge City badge on your left lapel. Not hard to deduce your recent travel habits from that." Sherlock said it with a genuine smile.

"Oh."

"It's been a long time Doctor."

"Yes it has, hasn't it? You've changed, Sherlock."

"As have you, am I to guess Miss Donna Noble doesn't travel with you anymore?" A shadow passed across the Doctor's face. _Guilt_, Sherlock thought.

"No."

"That is a shame, I liked her hair." The Doctor gave him a half-hearted grin and Sherlock could tell, by the man's eyes, he was in pain. Not physical pain, worse. Shame, regret, the worst feelings a man of his character could be feeling. Sherlock thought it best to steer the conversation in another direction.

"Do you remember the time in the woods, when I was little; you saved me from those shadows? I think we might have a case that is better suited to a man of your capabilities Doctor." As much as Sherlock hated to admit he was beat or that he needed help, it was different with the Doctor.

"This is not good. Very not good, my friend, tell me everything." Sherlock was telling him about the suicides – people had been going to the tops of buildings and simply leaping off. No warnings or signs, ordinary, seemingly happy people. And happy people don't just jump off of rooves. So, Sherlock had reached the point in this case where there was only one more possibility. Aliens.

The Doctor was nodding along to the story and then stopped at Sherlock's mention of sulphur.

"I'm sorry, Sherlock, was that sulphur you just mentioned. This is bad. Go back to your flat, if I'm not there within five minutes of you being there, just wait longer." And with that the Doctor ran off at an awkward angle and threw himself into the TARDIS. Sherlock was thinking he was beginning to see what John meant when he said Sherlock was infuriatingly mysterious and vague.

Sherlock now had to make his way back to Baker Street, in a cab. Which usually wouldn't be hard but he was actually in the middle of nowhere, Cardiff. Spiffing.

He stopped on the way home. This seemed like a case where he might need some cigarettes. Obviously he wouldn't show them to John, he would only hide them again. _Rude._

As he traipsed up the steps, he could hear Mrs. Hudson yelling below him. That would most likely be his fault, having let slip that Mr. Horne had a wife in Brighton. John had been furious. Sherlock had had to dodge a teacup aimed at his shoulder. It had been empty at least and John had then stormed off to his bedroom and left Sherlock to clean up the broken mug.

He still hadn't.

He opened the door, John was home.

"Hello, John. We'll have a visitor in, oh, four minutes or so." He said with a smile, not asking permission, merely stating a fact.

"I see, Sherlock. Don't actually _ask _or anything, it's not like I pay rent too or anything. What nutter is it this time? A hobo? A hooker from King's Cross again?"

"No," Sherlock murmured, knowing the gravity of the words about to leave his mouth.

"John, it's the Doctor."


End file.
